MUS-E ON STAGE final concerts : Música na bagagem

What if we create a digital choir of children of the MUS-E Programme all singing one Portuguese song? That was the idea we had in March 2020 far away from imagining that in 2021 many schools in Europe will still be closed, and that a kid singing in a classroom won’t be that simple. But we made it! With more than 160 children and exceptional professional artists in 6 countries.

To close this symbolic project and show this choir, we are holding 2 special concerts with the musicians at the heart of the project: Celina da Piedade, the Brussels Chamber Orchestra and traditional Portuguese musicians. One will take place in Leiria with children on stage, the other one will be broadcasted from Brussels at a location close to the European institutions. This concert will also celebrate the end of the Portuguse Presidency of the European Union.

THE MUS-E ON STAGE PRoject

MUS-E ON STAGE is one of the 10 Creative Europe projects selected under the Music Education and Learning Call in the framework of the Preparatory Action “Music Moves Europe”.

Music education is beneficial in many ways! Not only to enhance creativity, but also to develop social skills, social inclusion and critical thinking. It can also lay the foundations for a career in the music sector. Convinced of the role of music in schools, MUS-E ON STAGE improves the accessibility of music education for primary school children from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds in Europe. This project is led by the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and the Associação Yehudi Menuhin Portugal in collaboration with 5 partners of the MUS-E Programme based in Belgium,, Hungary, Spain, Italy, and Cyprus.

At the heart of this project we have the great collaboration between professional classical musicians from Belgium and traditional musicians from Portugal. The idea was to create a dialogue between different musical and cultural backgrounds and create a music repertoire at this image. The music repertoire was then the foundation for the launch of music sessions from January to May 2021 in primary schools in Europe. So, children in 4th grade of the school « Jardin d’Elise » in Brussels learn the same song and at the same time than children of Limasol primary school in Cyprus or in Scuola Fontana in Turin, Italy or Coruna in Spain.

At the end of the project, children were recorded and filmed and we were able to mix the voices together to create one choir of MUS-E children.

CONCERT IN LEIRIA, PORTUGAL

The first concert will be held in the region at the heart of the project, in Leiria, orchestrated by Rui Amado, local coordinator of the MUS-E programme and supported by the municipality of Leiria. At this concert, it is the children who are the stars, the children who have participated in the music workshops throughout the project, who will take to the stage with the traditional musicians and Celina da Piedade.

This concert will take place on 26 June 2021 at 4pm after a week of online music workshops that are still part of the MUS-E ON STAGE project. This concert will take place at the Teatro José Luis da Silva in person.

CONCERT IN BRUSSELS TO CLOSE THE portuguese presidency of the european union

As the international celebration of the project as well as as the official closure concert of the Portuguse Presidency of the European Union, we will hold an exceptional online concert in a symbolic location close to he European institutions.

This will take place on the 30^th June at 8 pm and here are where to watch the show: